Soha Ali Khan on starring in Chhorrii 2, “To play an antagonist in horror is not something I’ve done before” 2 : Bollywood News

Filmmaker Vishal Furia’s recently released horror movie Chhorii 2 stars Nushrratt Bharuccha in the lead. But the movie also sees Soha Ali Khan play a prominent role. She speaks to us about her experience of doing the movie and more.

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Soha Ali Khan on starring in Chhorrii 2, “To play an antagonist in horror is not something I’ve done before”

What brings you back to the screen?

What brings me back to the screen is just the idea of being presented in such a wonderful way as Daasi Ma in this character. To play an antagonist in horror is not something I’ve done before. And I thought, it would be a very nice challenge for me to step out of my comfort zone, to wear completely new costumes, lenses, VFX, prosthetics, a different style of walking, a different way of talking with some investment into diction classes and working on an accent, smoking a hookah, doing all kinds of things that are way outside of my comfort level. And I thought also to be a part of a horror movie because I have enjoyed watching horrors, but I’ve never actually been in one. I thought that was interesting and that’s why I wanted to play the role of Daasi Ma.

Now that your daughter is somewhat older, do you have the time and inclination to resume your acting career?

Yes, I definitely have the time. I think I always had the time. I just didn’t want to make the time because I found it very, very challenging to step away from her and I wanted to be there for so many important milestones that happen in the first few years of your child growing up. And I really wanted to be present for her and to watch her and to be involved in raising her. Now she’s seven and she is in school for most of the day. She has an active social life and I, it’s never as if she really needed me. I needed her and now I think that I’m comfortable stepping away from her a little bit and definitely taking on more work.

What attracted you to this project? Horror is a completely new genre for you. Was it tough to be scary? Do you enjoy watching horror films?

I do enjoy watching horror films, but I feel like the older I get and certainly after becoming a parent, my appetite to consume horror has gone down and I feel very sensitive, especially to the sound in a horror film. I feel like it makes me very uncomfortable, but I still do enjoy it. I guess it’s like any kind of adrenaline rush. I don’t really enjoy roller coasters, but I still sometimes make myself do it because there’s some kind of high you get out of it. So, I do enjoy the sensation of the anticipation of fear or something going, you know, that might happen.

I have seen lots of horrors, whether it’s in sort of Western cinema from, you know, Psycho, The Shining, classics, Stephen King novels that have been turned into films. Things like Insidious or Conjuring or The Exorcism of Emily Rose or The Exorcist, of course, which also was a book. And also within Hindi cinema, some of my favourites have been 100 Days, which is one of the first horror films I saw from Hindi cinema, and then Bhoot by Ram Gopal Verma, Darna Mana Hai, you know, these are some of my favourites. But I’m glad to see that horror is making a comeback now in terms of pure horror and not a mixed genre.

Was it tough to be scary?

I think, no, not really. I think all of us have a darker side to our personality and I enjoyed exploring that. I think that what happens with horror is that you get so much support from sound, costume, cinematography, lighting. It all comes together. Of course, the script. What was difficult for me, I think, were things like the diction and the body mannerisms because she’s sort of rougher than I am, Daasi Ma. Her moral fabric is completely alien to me, what drives her. So, to be convinced or to be empathetic towards this character was a challenge for me.

But being scary was not so much because, honestly, I think I just put myself in my director’s hands. He had a particular vision of what this character looked like and what he told me to do with my face in terms of even contorting my face or doing things, I did. And, you know, the rest was a lot of teamwork from makeup, costume, the effects.

Should we consider this as a new beginning for you with other projects coming up?

I don’t know if you should consider it a new beginning. I mean, I did two shows after becoming a parent. I don’t think it’s a new beginning. I really feel like my work has always been a part of my life. My career has been a part of my life, not my entire life. And just because I’m not so visible on screen, I don’t think it means you’ve gone away. You’re just doing something else. I know that it’s been seven years since I did a movie, like a film. So in that sense, I suppose I did go away and now I’m coming back. But I did do two shows in the interim, which were Hush Hush and Kaun Banegi Shikharwati. And I have done another film. The production shoot part of that is complete and it should release later this year. And I hope to do much more.

As a woman, is it tough for you to balance your responsibilities as a homemaker with your career, and do you feel you can pull it off?

I think women are good at multitasking. We have to play many roles and wear many hats, whether it’s daughters, mothers, siblings, daughters-in-law, professionals, homemakers, you know, there’s a lot going on all the time and I think that we are generally able to multitask and also what we do need to learn to do more is delegate. I certainly am one of those women who likes to be everywhere at one time and, you know, make everyone happy and I find that that is impossible to do.

So, it is important to have a supportive community around you, to delegate to family, friends, professionals like my nanny who is so intrinsic to me achieving my dreams because she looks after my child when I can’t be there. So I think there is a support system out there for you, ideally. We should lean on that when we can because it is impossible to be everywhere at once and do everything perfectly. So I think women generally need to be not so hard on themselves and we don’t always have to be perfectionists. I think the idea is, especially if we have to be in the workplace, the idea is to delegate and to rely on so many other people who can be there to help you in the home.

Recently there was an awful incident in your brother Saif’s life. What has that told you about the safety of the family, and how celebrities could avoid being easy targets?

Alert toh hum hai hi, kabhi kabhi aisi cheezain ho jaati hai which are very unfortunate and I think now the sense of feeling is very blessed, ki aur bura nahin hua, joh hua uss hadd tak hi hua, and then everyone is fine.

Also Read: Soha Ali Khan opens up about online trolling over her interfaith marriage with Kunal Kemmu: “I have gotten a bit thick-skinned; it doesn’t bother me”